Class System.Exception

Provides a base class for all user-defined and framework-supplied exceptions.

Syntax


[SerializableAttribute]
public class Exception : object

Remarks

The System.Exception class is the base class for all exceptions in the .NET Framework. Exceptions are a mechanism for handling runtime errors. When an error occurs, an exception object is created and "thrown". This transfers control to a handler for that exception. If no handler is found, the program terminates.

The Exception class contains a number of properties that provide information about the error. Key properties include:

Message: A human-readable description of the error.
StackTrace: A string representing the call stack at the time the exception was thrown.
InnerException: The exception that caused the current exception. This is useful for preserving the original exception when throwing a new one.
Data: A collection of key/value pairs that provide additional user-defined information about the exception.

Custom exception classes should inherit from System.Exception. It is also recommended to include a constructor that takes a message string and a constructor that takes a message string and an inner exception. The [SerializableAttribute] should also be applied to custom exception classes.

Constructors

Name	Description
`Exception()`	Initializes a new instance of the `Exception` class.
`Exception(string message)`	Initializes a new instance of the `Exception` class with a specified error message.
`Exception(string message, Exception innerException)`	Initializes a new instance of the `Exception` class with a specified error message and a reference to the inner exception that is the cause of this exception.

Fields

Name	Description
`InnerException`	Gets a reference to the inner exception that is the cause of the current exception.
`Message`	Gets an error message that describes the current exception.
`StackTrace`	Gets a string that contains the name of the application domain in which the current exception occurred and the names of the assemblies involved in the error and the location of the error.

Methods

Name	Description
`GetBaseException()`	When overridden in a derived class, returns the `Exception` that is the root cause of one or more subsequent exceptions.
`ToString()`	Returns a string that represents the current exception.